Government

Linda Gearhart and Larry Matson will square off in the November general election, as they were the top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary election. At stake in the November vote is a two-year, at-large seat to the seven-member Three Rivers City Commission. Gearhart, 65, claimed 99 votes, while the 69-year-old Matson earned 71. Matthew Gearhart earned 40 votes. Matson was …

A request to restore nearly three-tenths of a mill to the maximum rate of 2.75 mills for special-education services fell Tuesday, 1,150 to 1,018. Restoration of the mills would have generated an additional $620,000 annually for St. Joseph County’s nine school districts. The 132-vote difference was slightly less than the combined difference between yes and no votes in Cass County’s …

The Michigan Department of Community Health has confirmed that the first human case of West Nile Virus for 2013 has been identified in St. Joseph County. According to the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency, the case involves an adult male, over the age of 50 years, from the southwest corner of St. Joseph County. The man was hospitalized with symptoms …

A prison term in excess of seven years was issued to a corporate official with South Haven-based Village Market Food Centers. Christopher Pratt, who was charged with embezzlement, was sentenced this week in a Kalamazoo federal court after the 42-year-old Pratt admitted a gambling addiction and an extensive car collection were financed through the $6 million he stole. Village Market …

A Greyhound bus passenger is in critical condition after the bus he was riding in rear-ended a tractor-semitrailer Thursday morning on I-94 near Galesburg in Kalamazoo County. The Kalamazoo County Sheriffs Office says 21 passengers were injured when the westbound bus collided with the semi-truck just after 10:15 a.m. Thursday. Eight passengers were taken from the scene to Borgess Medical …

Smoke emitting from inside a garbage bag led to drug-related charges against a Colon Township man Tuesday. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department earlier in the day acted on a citizen’s tip regarding a suspicious bag of what appeared to be trash alongside Decker Road in Colon Township. The St. Joseph County Area Narcotics squad was called to the scene …

The city of Sturgis has issued a reminder that its tobacco-use ordinance goes into effect Thursday. As a reminder, the use of tobacco products – including but not limited to cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and chew – will be prohibited on city property and its recreational areas. An allowable use of tobacco products on city property, however, is inside a …

The Sturgis Department of Public Safety will be looking for a new director, as Dave Northrop is stepping down next month. The 47-year-old Northrop was named dean of students at Eastwood Elementary School. The Sturgis Public Schools Board of Education chose Northrop from a field of nine candidates for the newly created position, which replaces the job of assistant principal. …

A hit-and-run, property-damage incident is under investigation by the Michigan State Police. According to a department media release, a vehicle being driven east on Fawn River Road was struck by a vehicle heading north on Nottawa Street in Sturgis Township. The incident at the four-way stop occurred at 4:10 p.m. Thursday. Investigators said the offending vehicle was an SUV that …

Centreville’s former department of public works director was sentenced to two years of probation after his involvement in the theft of gasoline from the village DPW garage. District court officials said 50-year-old Randy Baker, a Colon resident, was sentenced earlier this month after he earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of embezzlement of less than $200. The misdemeanor and subsequent …